The film was previously to be directed by Ramesh Sippy as "Shatranj", with Amitabh Bachchan and Amjad Khan in the lead roles played by Anil Kapoor and Amrish Puri.
At the premiere night of Mashaal 1984 Anil Kapoor went on two sign the movie,earlier he was offered the negative role of Javed Jaffrey and Amitabh Bachchan was to play the lead role, due to Amitabh Bachchan's political career he left the film and Anil Kapoor went on to play the lead role which made him a mature actor for which he credits Amitabh Bachchan.
During the initial appearance of Javed Jaffrey dancing in front of a crowd of students, a large banner can be seen pinned to the wall that read, "VOTE SUNIL SHETTY FOR PRESIDENT'. The naming reference was coincidental and unrelated to the actor, Sunil Shetty, who was still seven years away from making his debut.
Anil Kapoor was to play the role of the villain. After the casting changes,Anil was bumped up into playing the lead role,while Javed Jaffery took on the villains role.
There is a court scene in the movie where Anil Kapoor consumes a bottle of poison to prove his client's innocence and then has it pumped out of his stomach by a doctor. A similar sequence made its way into Sidney Sheldon's novel Memories of Midnight published in 1990. Sidney Sheldon had visited India during 1988-89 and had most likely seen the movie and decided to borrow it. The scene fit in very well with his novel which centered around several dramatic sequences n the courtroom.